Sustainable Living

Making sustainable living commonplace

Our purpose is to make sustainable living commonplace. We are developing new business practices that grow both our company and communities. We are meeting people’s ever-increasing desire for more sustainable products and creating a brighter future for everyone. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan will help us double the size of our business while reducing our environmental footprint and increasing our positive social impact. And we’re working in partnerships where we can help change things on a global scale: deforestation and climate change; water, sanitation and hygiene; and sustainable agriculture and smallholder farmers.

The world is changing

Climate change is here. Temperatures are rising, water shortages are more frequent and food supplies are increasingly scarce.

Populations are growing fast, making basic hygiene and sanitation even more of a challenge and stretching the planet’s resources further still.

At Unilever we can see how people the world over are already affected by these changes. And the changes will pose new challenges for us too, as commodity costs fluctuate, markets become unstable and raw materials harder to source.

There is no 'business as usual' anymore. The old economic systems are no longer fit for purpose.

With products used by millions of consumers, we have an enormous opportunity to create change and are developing a new sustainable business model. A model in which:

Workplace rights and opportunities are improved and women get a fair deal

People’s health and well-being are a priority

All agricultural raw materials come from sustainable sources

The environment is safeguarded for future generations

Unilever Sustainable Living Plan

In 2010 we launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan which will help us double the size of our business while reducing our environmental footprint and increasing our positive social impact. We have set three big goals. By 2020 we will:

Improve the health and well-being of more than a billion people

Halve the environmental impact of our products

Enhance the livelihoods of millions working across our value chain

By driving sustainability into every corner of our business, the Plan is opening up new opportunities and driving growth:

More and more people are choosing brands with a social purpose, such as Dove and Lifebuoy

As consumers’ needs change, we’re concentrating on innovations, such as laundry products that use less water

We are making our supply chain more secure by working with smallholder farmers to improve farming practices and livelihoods

Promoting Sustainable Living

Through our brands we are also encouraging people to make smarter shopping choices and take sustainable actions at home.

Transformational Change

Partnerships also give us the potential to change things on a global scale. There are three big issues we're working on with others:

Tackling deforestation and climate change

Improving sanitation, hygiene and access to safe drinking water

Championing sustainable agriculture and smallholder farmers

We are at a turning point in history, a point when change is needed for the sake of all life on the planet.

The world needs a new business model with sustainability at its heart.

Only the businesses that grasp this will survive. Only those who grow sustainably will thrive.